West Indies-Bangladesh 1st Test begins today
Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe will be looking for a draw by banking on his batsmen as he has a limited stock of bowlers, when the Tigers take on the West Indies in the first of two-match Test series at the Arnos Vale in Kingstown today.
GTV and Ten Cricket will telecast the game live from 7:45pm.
‘Our realistic goal would be to draw the game,’ Hathurusinghe told Cricinfo ahead of the series on Thursday.
‘If we play well, bat well, we will be in the game. Our bowling stock is limited. We must look to bat deep and bat long, score runs and be in the game,’ said Hathurusinghe.
The focus will be firmly on the batsmen, who have misfired throughout the year. Consistency has been missing, as was the case with Anamul Haque, considered one of the few in-form batsmen, who scored a hundred in the first ODI against West Indies but made 7 and 0 in the next two.
It is worse for Bangladesh’s other leading batsmen too. Tamim Iqbal, Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah have not scored much, while Mominul Haque has suddenly found himself in a dip. Mushfiqur Rahim has contributed regularly but not from a winning position.
However, Hathurusinghe had seen how the batsmen were able to put together a 350-plus score in the practice match against St Kitts & Nevis, and so he remains hopeful that they would put a substantial score together.
Mushfiqur and Nasir both scored centuries, and although there was once again a middle-order wobble, there were periods when the two centurions were in control.
‘In the first game [in St George’s], we batted well on that wicket,’ said Hathurusinghe.
‘In the second game we didn’t bat well. In the last game they really played well. The target was too daunting, in the middle we had a partnership although we had a big asking rate.
‘I think we are getting there. We are trying hard to understand our roles and finding the right way to play those roles. It is still an early stage for me to understand their strengths and limitations. I am all open-minded but I can’t get into too many details without knowing what they can do in the middle,’ he said.
The only headache for the Bangladesh coach is with the experience of his bowlers. As Robiul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Taijul Islam and Elias Sunny have only played a total 21 Tests.
‘We haven’t decided our final XI,’ he said. ‘There are places for grabs for players to put their hands up. Until we have seen the wicket we don’t know what combination we will have. You know that we are handicapped, we have one spinner left. Our strength is spin so we are going into this game without that option. So it is a bit hard and we might have to discuss a different combination.
‘Our bowling attack is going to be tested on these wickets. The spinner who is coming is quite inexperienced. It is going to be a challenge for our attack, besides considering the wicket,’ he said.
When asked what he wouldn’t like to see from the batsmen in the Test series, Hathurusinghe simply said, ‘I want them to see make a lot of runs.’
-With New Age input
